The search for happiness The clout of country Australia

Rural Australia made a significant impact on the recent Federal elections, and for good reason, by NOEL G

DE SOUZA

BY NOEL G DE SOUZA

The Black Dog Institute, which is dedicated to battling depression, celebrated ‘Exercise Your Mood Week’ last month. Its latest ambassador, Olympic Gold Medallist swimmer Libby Trickett, comes from a family which has members who suffer depression, and she herself has returned from retirement to battle low moods. Depression is a common problem in Australia, as it is in several developed countries. During the recently-concluded election campaign both sides pledged large amounts of money for battling such mental illnesses. Depression is the opposite of happiness and serenity.

Some important individuals in Australia have suffered depression such as Geoffrey Gallop, Premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006 who resigned from his position to combat that illness. John Brogden resigned as the Liberal opposition leader in NSW after an episode of depression. Jeff Kennett, a former Premier of Victoria, was the founding Chairman of Beyond Blue (supported by the federal and state governments) from 2000 to 2008, a body set up to combat depression and anxiety at the national level.

Perhaps a simple definition of depression would be, a lack of happiness or an absence of inner peace and tranquillity which results in low moods. The Vajrayana Institute (Sydney), in association with the World Happiness Forum, organises annual “Happiness and its Causes” conferences where a wide array of speakers are presented. Notable recent speakers have been the Lateral Thinking guru Edward de Bono, former NSW Premier Bob Carr, and the Dalai Lama.

In Japan when corporate executives get stressed and depressed, they often admit themselves into Zen Buddhist monasteries for rehabilitation through meditation and other practices; likewise in Thailand, executives are known to pass a phase in Buddhist temples living as bikkus or monks. In the United States, rehabilitation centres for the rich and famous are becoming the norm as centres for recovery.

S. N. Goenka, an Indian industrialist, promotes the Vipassana meditation technique worldwide (including in Australia) which has a similar objective. Goenka is a prolific writer and speaker and he addressed the Peace Summit at the United Nations Headquarters in 2009.

The great anguish felt by Arjuna before the battle at Kurukshetra is a classic case of depression and despondency. Arjuna showed both physical and emotional symptoms when he had to prepare to fight against his close relatives. “The life within me seems to swim and faint; nothing do I foresee save woe and wail!” he cried. “What victory can bring delight, what rich spoils could profit; what rule recompense; what span of life itself seem sweet, bought with such blood?” he wailed.

The entire Bhagwad Gita is recited by Krishna to soothe Arjuna’s anguish through enlightenment and argument. Kindred Buddhist techniques also focus on enlightenment as a means to inner happiness. The aim of Hindu and Buddhist meditative techniques, like their Christian counterparts, is to develop a sense of bliss (ananda). Hindu and Buddhist ascetics often suffix their chosen names with ananda such as Sivananda.

The onset of old age can, in many cases, be expected to bring in distress, disappointment and pessimism. However, it is well worth noting what the National Institute of Mental Health (USA) says: “Depression is not a normal part of aging, and studies show that most seniors feel satisfied with their lives, despite increased physical ailments. … (though) less inclined to experience or acknowledge feelings of sadness or grief.”

Beyond Blue found in a recent study in Australia that 10-15% of older people living in the community experience symptoms of depression and approximately 10% experience anxiety, but that depression increases in aged care facilities where it is 34%.

Truly, isolation from one’s own community is a sad feeling for the aged. Several Indian cultural associations which are either language or religion based provide venues for the interaction of the aged with their cultural peers. Other organisations like SEVA International and the Hornsby Indian Seniors Association bring together diverse Indians who have common interests. SEVA International has been participating in forums for issues like health and well-being.

Many a sub-continental in Australia is now reaching retirement or has already retired. Some retirees could feel a sense of disappointment on several fronts. Life in Australia may not have turned out the way they thought that it would. Even more so, their children might seem like strangers to them because of their very different ideas and lifestyles.

Older Indians in Australia may need help in dispelling loneliness and a sense of disappointment. Some parents could be ethnocentric in that they adhere to the customs and norms of their cultural group (religion, caste, sect and language) and may need help in bridging the gap with their Australian offspring who could be individualistic, whilst also being cosmopolitan.

The 2010 Australian election gave six independent Members of Parliament the balance of power; four of these have resulted in the Labor government being retained. The four independents come from rural Australia, holding what were once safe National Party seats. Two others come from traditional capital city Labor electorates. Labor lost several seats in Queensland where the rural component is strong.

Rural Australia (the “country” or the “bush”) is in revolt and asserting itself.

Australia’s capital cities, unlike in Europe and Asia, were established prior to the population later spreading out into the country because of farming and mining. With increasing modernised farming and mechanised mining, fewer jobs came progressively available in country areas; simultaneously, industries began springing up in the big cities thus attracting people from the countryside. This rural-urban drift considerably depopulated country areas and crowded the cities. This crowding was exacerbated by large scale migration, the migrants overwhelmingly choosing to live in the big cities.

The bulk of Australia’s population is concentrated in small areas in the metropolitan centres and in their satellite cities. That leaves only a minority which is spread over a vast area, where agriculture and mining prevail. It is those areas which are the source of most of Australia’s exports. The notion that country Australia creates the wealth and that metropolitan Australia spends the income has considerable truth in it.

Australia’s mineral wealth is formidable. It exports large quantities of metallic ores which include iron, copper, zinc and nickel. It has large deposits of coal of which it is the world’s largest exporter. It also exports natural gas and uranium, and gold and diamonds add to its wealth. Australia has some of largest deposits of high quality iron, uranium, coal and gold in the world.

The proposed mining supertax was perceived by voters in mining areas as a tax on themselves, which would be then spent on the metropolitan dwellers.

Australia’s agricultural production and export is very impressive: wheat, barley, oilseeds and sugar as well as cattle, diary products, lamb and wool and fruit, nuts and wines. Almost every type of grain, vegetables and fruits are produced within the country’s varying climates. But Australia also imports foodstuffs and some farmers complain that they are being placed at a disadvantage by several factors like “free trade” agreements which allow food imports tariff-free.

Agriculture and mining are not just money spinners. Those industries face several vagaries, both natural and human. Frequent price fluctuations create uncertainty about incomes and Australia agriculture is vulnerable to frequent droughts and occasionally to floods. The Murray-Darling Basin which is the bread bowl of the country has become almost extinct because of water shortages, large areas depending on irrigation. Places which once had plentiful water supplies and had water-filled lakes now lie parched and dry. Many farms in marginal areas have had to be abandoned.

Mining and agriculture require considerable investments and are often burdened with large loans before any profits can be realised. Farmers have often seen very hard times. Some mining corporations have been disposed at rock-bottom prices because of heavy borrowing.

With so much natural wealth and so much agricultural production, one would expect country Australia to find life to be good. But the reverse is true: life can be harsh in these regions. As the population is so sparse in places, it becomes difficult to provide services such as medical and educational. Some places lack doctors whilst dentists and other specialists are in short supply. That is why foreign doctors have been imported into some places and incentives have also been offered for local doctors to relocate to the bush. Travel to larger centres for medical attention is common and the Flying Doctor Service often gets calls for urgent medical help. Large areas of rural Australia suffer from isolation.

Because Australia is so large and its population is so small in comparison to European and Asian standards, infrastructure building to connect places is both difficult and expensive. What has been achieved in this regard up to now is remarkable. A fast speed train network like that in France could be only economically feasible in limited areas. In fact, some inland areas such as in NSW have had their train services replaced by buses.

Rural Australia is considerably disadvantaged. Even making phone calls to country areas is more expensive than within the large cities. Establishing the National Broadband Network would hopefully overcome some of these problems. Such a network would greatly help to connect isolated places to the world. It would help in the educating of children who have to study at home and would also help businesses.

The cost, currently touted at $ 43 billion, is large in Australian terms. That is because of the enormous distances involved in laying out the network. This is unlike the small and well populated countries of Europe.